What did you ride BEFORE the Prime?

Potential Banshee convert ..... looking at the Prime....

Dirt Merchant is local to me so....

Just curious what Prime riders had BEFORE their Primes and how did it compare?
-Climbing (CO front range trails all go up A LOT right outta the car, so it's gotta go UP well)
-Pedaling performance
-Lower speed twisty ST
-Rock Gardens

Me: Just broke a L Yeti SB95C that I really like and am weighing the options of crash replacement vs new frame.

Western slope here...but rode a Turner Sultan before the Prime. Longest I have ever owned a frame/bike is my Prime. It was 5 years in November...I just kept putting off a new bike, as the Prime was just so good! Moab, Grand Mesa, GJ, Fruita...etc; fantastic bike for me! Sadly, my Prime & the wife's bike were stolen out of my garage last night
Death to all bike thieves!

Western slope here...but rode a Turner Sultan before the Prime. Longest I have ever owned a frame/bike is my Prime. It was 5 years in November...I just kept putting off a new bike, as the Prime was just so good! Moab, Grand Mesa, GJ, Fruita...etc; fantastic bike for me! Sadly, my Prime & the wife's bike were stolen out of my garage last night
Death to all bike thieves!

I ride in Kananaskis, just west of Calgary, where it's straight up out of the parking lot on almost every ride. I have been on rides in the Denver/Golden area, and the terrain and trails are surprisingly similar. Before I got the Prime, I was on an Ibis Mojo HD 160 [26", similar suspension design] - great technical climber held back by geometry.

The Prime is a better all-around bike. It tracks the ground better on the climbs, handles steep switchbacks at least as well, and is far more stable on descents. It's also not as "firm" as the Ibis. Some of this is due to the slacker angles, some to the suspension design, but a big difference is the wheel size. I rode the Banshee Spitfire [650B, very similar suspension design] before getting the Prime, and I like the Prime much better for my type of riding.

The negatives of the Prime are largely around the size of the thing - the wheelbase is longer than my DH bike! Compared to the Ibis, I can't just pick any line going into a tight uphill switchback, but when I actually look where I'm going, the Prime just cruises around the bend.

My large Prime weighs 32 pounds including pedals, rolling NOBL TR38 wheels, Maxxis Minion DD tires, MRP Ribbon, Reverb, XT brakes and XO Eagle. I could drop a pound or two by choosing lighter tires and wheels, but since I'm faster up and down than I was on the Ibis, I don't see the point.

My friends and I were all Banshee riders and we all still think they are amazing bikes. Three had Primes, one had a Spitfire, one Darkside and I had a Rune V.2. We all now ride Evil's. Five Wreckonings including me and one guy on an Insurgent, plus two more friends on Callings. Yeah, they are that good. However, we would love to see Banshee either add more travel to the Prime or design a new long travel 29. I think some would be tempted back. The Prime otherwise can't be beat for the cost.

What I like about the Prime is that you can configure it as you desire - B+, 29, 29x2.8, and even some 29x3.0s will fit. By changing the dropout setting and fork length, you can get the BB height and HA where you want it with different tire sizes. It's durable and affordable.

As it happens, I am currently running mine with a very similar geo to the Evil Wreckoning. I set it up that way for a Whistler trip, but like it in Texas just fine and have not bothered to change it back.

We are just now getting some good rolling 29x2.6 to 29x2.8 tires coming around, which I think is going to be the sweet spot for me. Currently on 2.6 Nics.

The CS is a little on the long side comared to some of the newer bikes, and it's not light. Very happy with the pedaling, the only time I notice any bob is grinding uphill on pavement / fireroads. Othewise, I don't touch the lever on the rear shock. It pedals over chunk pretty nicely, not quite as smoothly as some of the DW bikes I've tried, but pretty darn good.

Originally Posted by noapathy

Is it blue on one side and white on the other or did you buy two of whatever that is?

I have a 2017 prime, im 5'10 on a large (50mm stem), and it still feels like a big frame, the medium was smaller than my medium bronson that I had before this bike, and the stem would have been to long. But I love this bike its super capable, climbs great, descends awesome, I like the geometry a lot. I feel more comfortable on descents with this prime than I ever did on my bronson. Its likely because of the super long wheelbase and 29er tires.

I ran it B+ for a while, I thought the bottom bracket was to low for my riding and ended up selling that wheelset, I ride a lot of chunk, on smoother trails it's probably fine, maybe some 170 cranks would help. I also run it with the boost dropouts and I tried several 27.5 3.0 tires in the back (on i35's) and they all rubbed the frame, it's spaced too close to the non drive side and would rub.